Style trumps abundance in festive floral arranging
by Susan Zevon Deen Day Sanders, features Arrangers http://www.wafausa.org About Flowers http://www.about Dutch Flower Line West
arrangements by members of The Michael George flowers.com http://www.dutchflowerline.com
Flowers are a sure way to dress up Garden Club of America and http://www.michaelgeorgecustom- Flowers. Alive with Possibilities
your home for the holidays, and you National Garden Clubs, Inc. floral.com www.flowerpossibilities.com
don't need a lot of expensive blooms When decorating your holiday
to do it. Floral stylists say this is the table, she advises, think of the col-
year when style trumps opulence. ors in the room and consider using
Trish O'Sullivan, a teacher and deeper shades of those colors.
designer at the New York Botanical She also suggests adding unex-
Garden's Floral Design Program, pected elements such as cones, seed
advises, “recycle, reuse and rein- pods, fruits and vegetables to floral
vent. Orchids will give you the arrangements. When you go on a
biggest bang for your buck.” walk, stay alert for found materials
Orchids may provide dozens of you can use.
blossoms per stem, and beautiful Eileen Johnson, author of The Art
varieties can be found in corner of Floral Arranging and director of
stores and supermarkets, says FlowerSchool New York, says the
O'Sullivan, owner of the business trend this year is green “both figura-
Eco Design by Trish O'Sullivan. tively and literally.”
For the holiday season, she also She suggests asking your florist if
likes roses, especially in deep bur- their flowers are Fair Trade
gundy, green and pure white. She Certified. (To learn more about the
suggests floating the blossoms on global floral industry, she recom-
beds of clear cellophane in three mends reading Flower Confidential
rectangular vases and marching by Amy Stewart.)
them down the center of your holi- Johnson says there's a lot of inter-
day table. est this year in texture, in both flow-
This season, O'Sullivan is using ers and containers. Containers
lots of metallic containers and woven from natural materials are
accessories with flowers for holiday popular, she says.
parties. She suggests filling silver Some tips Johnson offers:
trumpet-shape vases (she recom- - Shop foliage: Don't just look at
r
ish O'Sullivan
mends Jamaligarden.com for these the flowers - make sure the foliage
and other items) with roses or carna- is good. Healthy plants create good
tions and placing them throughout flowers.
AP/Courtesy T
the house. - Don't try to mix too many kinds
O'Sullivan creates floral ornament of flowers. Think of the way flowers
balls with spheres of Oasis-style grow in the garden. “Keep it simple.
Spheres of oasis topped with carnations or mums
foam covered with carnations and An abundance of the same color
mums, and showcases them on a flowers or the same types of flowers
glass plate surrounded by holiday are easiest to arrange,” she says.
greens and other ornaments. - Always remove the foliage
Nancy D'Oench, author of (thorns as well) that will be below
“Flower Arranging the American the water line in the vase.
Way” (Abrams, 2009), suggests lim- - Use clean containers; unclean
iting your color palette and massing containers develop bacteria.
types of floral materials and textures - Keep the water clean. Change it
for a bold, contemporary look. frequently, every day if possible.
D'Oench says she is inspired by - Clean stems thoroughly to
artist Georgia O'Keefe, who said she remove any bacteria before you
painted her flowers big so that peo- arrange the flowers.
ple would see what she saw. - Buy flowers on the “break” - not
“Our art,” D'Oench says, “is to too open, not too tight. AP
present flowers so that busy people
will stop and really look at them and On the Net:
see what we see.” The New York Botanical Garden
“Let the container be your guide,” Continuing Education
she says. “Search in consignment www.nybg.org/educ
shops and home accessories depart- Trish O'Sullivan Design
ments of discount stores for ones http://trishosullivandesign.com
that really excite you and when you Jamali Garden Supplies
AP/Courtesy Trish O'Sullivan
find one, bring it home, set it on www.jamaligarden.com
your kitchen counter and let it talk FlowerSchool New York
to you.” http://www.flowerschoolny.com
Orchids on cellophane in rectangular glass container
D'Oench's book, coordinated by World Association of Flower
Chicago Defender • ChicagoDefender.com • December 23-29, 2009
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